National Community Day of Protest: November 15

All Health Services Union members and their families are encouraged to take place in a national community day of protest over new work laws on November 15.


The day of protest will include a national hook-up of people across the country via a Sky Channel broadcast.

Members will be able to go to local venues in country and city areas to take part in what is expected to be the largest ever protest meeting in Australia.

HSU national secretary Craig Thomson said the national community day of protest was designed to allow people to express their feelings about proposed work laws which if passed by parliament would cut employment rights.

"By the time November 15 comes around the Howard Government's changes should be before parliament," he said.

"That means the day will be about informing the community about the proposed changes and sending a clear message to the Howard Government that they should be scrapped."

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Christians preach hate too

Why do George W Bush and Rupert Murdoch think so highly of a dangerous demagogue?

One aspect of the preachers of hate debate which has gone unnoticed is that any new laws would have to apply to Christian preachers as well as Muslims.

In that case, people like American evangelist Pat Robertson could well find themselves in trouble. Last week, for example, Robertson was calling for the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, to be 'taken out', in other words, murdered. (He later tried to get out of it by claiming that 'taking people out' didn't necessarily involve assassination.)

This Christian preacher of hate, it turns out, enjoys a cordial relationship with George W Bush, who might well come to his aid if he were under threat. But he could not deny that, in many respects, there is nothing to distinguish him from his Muslim brothers. He hates homosexuals, for example, and has even on occasion spoken out about what he calls a 'Jewish money conspiracy'.

It is not widely known that Robertson has another very influential admirer, in the person of Rupert Murdoch. Andrew Neil, in his memoirs published in 1996, records that when Robertson stood as a presidential candidate in 1988, Murdoch told Neil: 'He's right on all the issues.'

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Howard Witch Hunt: shoot the messenger

The Howard Government's use of police and the criminal law to plug embarrassing leaks has moved into the industrial relations arena.

Australian Financial Review journalist Marcus Priest has been questioned by the Australian Federal Police over the source of a briefing from within the department of Workplace Relations, critical of the Minister's use of the building and construction code.

With two Herald Sun journalists, Gerard McManus and Michael Harvey, facing jail for refusing to name the source of information from the Department of Veteran Affairs, the Media Alliance has warned the use of AFP officers to chase down leaks from the public service had the potential to stifle public debate,

"This type of harassment of journalists is an improper application of the criminal law - it means that journalists are exposing themselves to police investigations for fulfilling their professional obligation to seek out and report on the truth," Alliance national secretary Chris Warren says.

Liberal leader resigns

After the news got out of John Brodgen's racist "joke" about Helena Carr, he resigned as Liberal leader in the NSW parliament, while still claiming it was all meant in jest.

The New South Wales Premier Morris Iemma says it is extraordinary the NSW Liberal party wanted to keep on a discredited leader rather than a new one, and says the party may suffer a public backlash.

"What's happened in the last 48 hours is probably a new low in New South Wales politics, or in politics in general," he said.

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NSW Libs: racism exposed at top

NSW Liberal Party leader John Brogden has exposed how deeply racism is embedded in his party when he "joked" about Bob Carr's wife being "a Mail-order bride"

"It was the week Bob Carr resigned. I had a few drinks and let off some steam, and in doing so acted foolishly." said Brogden

Asked about his description of Helena Carr, he said: "I did tell a joke along those lines. It was completely inappropriate."

Bob Carr rejected Brogden's explanation and said Mr Brogden should resign.

"Mr Brogden is totally unfit to lead any political party, he has given vent to sheer, unadulterated racism - in a state where one in four citizens was born overseas."